Whether it’s the mRNA vaccine technology that powered the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines, new frontiers of biomanufacturing or new personalized medicine enabled by understanding the human genome, medicine is evolving fast. For those working in, designing and building the labs where these discoveries are made, it’s clear the workspaces are changing as well, challenging life sciences developers to adapt to emerging technologies.
A pair of innovations have been steadily making their presence felt in labs: the use of artificial intelligence to sequence large amounts of data and analyze large sets of experiments — and even experiment via advanced simulations — and the use of robotics to run precision testing, verification procedures and advanced manufacturing. AI and robotics are both becoming more affordable and accessible for biotech companies and startups, and becoming the focus of a new breed of startups focused on lab automation.